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Hello all,
My name is Jared, and I've been lurking about for a few weeks and reading as much as I can, and I registered recently in case any questions pop up while I'm looking over all the older threads.
Right now I am 24 and currently working in the insurance industry (at least until I finish school and find a career I actually enjoy, lol).
My reason for popping up on this board, is that my girlfriend's father is selling both his old VW Beetle and his '79 MGB, to allow for a down payment (and room in the garage) for a new car, most likely a Mini Cooper S (the BMW, not the old one), and I've always admired it, so I am considering buying it.
I can't say that I've seen it driven at all in the year and a half that I've known her, but before that it was driven maybe once or twice a year to MG meets in our area. I told him I was definitely interested. My dad had an MGB when he was younger, it was the year before they switched to plastic bumpers (he sold it later for a Trimph Spitfire, which we had up until a year or so after I was born), and I inherited a bit of his appreciation for these cars.
Sometime in the next few weeks I will be actually giving it a thorough inspection, using the handy information from here and here that I found from this website, and then at that point I will decide if this is a car I will ask my girlfriend's father to hold for me (he would prefer to sell it sooner than later, but he knows I've always admired it and would take care of it, so he will hold it for me until next October when I will be ready to purchase it).
I currently have a 2000 Ford Focus hatchback, and generally reside in the FocalJet forums, but as of late I've been looking for a second, older car, because although I love my Focus and full understand the capabilities of the platform, I've been desiring a second, "funkier" car that will not only turn heads when I drive, but also allow me to really get my hands dirty and learn a lot about working on cars (can't get too into a car when it's your transportation to and from work!). I have a short list of cars that I have been considering buying and restoring (and modifying them to perform significantly beyond their stock levels of performance).
When I say modify beyond their stock levels of performance, that doesn't necessarily apply to all the candidates.
For example, high on my list is an old Datsun 510, into which I would put the Nissan SR20DET engine and basically overhall it to turn it into a little beast of a car, but I wouldn't go and hot rod a VW Thing, which I am also considering.
Which is why I am unsure about the MGB. I keep seeing references to this whole "Safety Fast" thing, and if I am really looking to turn whatever car I buy into quite a performer, I am still looking for info on people who have "souped up" their cars, so to speak.
A lot of information I've seen on here seems to refer specifically to the restoration and upkeep of original equipment, so I was wondering if this vehicle is just one of those vehicles that is simply good enough in it's stock form, or does it not lend well to modifications?
Before anyone comments on that, I can partly answer that myself- I really need to DRIVE the car to experience it and see if it is something I would like to get into... from what I gather, the driving experience you get is what brought about the "Safety Fast" thing, so perhaps just enjoying the car at it's stock performance levels will be good enough for me.
...but still, I tend to be an always-tinkering type of car enthusiast, wanting to see how I can fully exploit a vehicle for more performance. I just got my Moss Motors catalog yesterday, and immediately I went right to the performance parts, lol.
Somewhere on here or one of the sites I linked to, I read that if I do buy an MGB, I should wait and live with it a year before doing any extensive modifications. So, once I fully check over the example I am considering buying, if it IS something I like (after I actually DRIVE an MGB, of course), I will bring it up to speed as far as any work that needs to be done to it, but taking that advice, I won't be doing any serious suspension work, engine work, or bodywork (even though I SO want to convert it to a chrome bumper car!) until I truly see that this is a car I can live with.
In any event, I think I am rambling now and I apologize (slow day at work), but I hope to learn a lot from all of you in the next few months, both regarding the car itself, but also the philosophy behind maintaining and owning one of these. Not often do I see cars touting claims like "Safety Fast", so that was my first indication that I truly need to do my homework before buying a car like this
Thanks in advance for my experiences here!
Oh, and real quick, I'm not sure what kind of demographic tends to frequent these boards, but from what I've gathered it seems like there are a lot of brand loyalists here, which is fine, but I'm not too fond of "fanboys" who denounce other genres or marques just because they don't like them. For example, I am a big fan of certain imports, but please do not misunderstand me when I say I am NOT to be lumped in to the "Fast N Furious" demographic which unfortunately seems to be typecasting any young car enthusaist these days as being tasteless and stupid. Like most people, I like certain brands and types of cars more than others, but I can always see the good in every car.
...just had to get that out of the way, thanks
[ 04-07-2004: Message edited by: JaredZX3 ]</p>
My name is Jared, and I've been lurking about for a few weeks and reading as much as I can, and I registered recently in case any questions pop up while I'm looking over all the older threads.
Right now I am 24 and currently working in the insurance industry (at least until I finish school and find a career I actually enjoy, lol).
My reason for popping up on this board, is that my girlfriend's father is selling both his old VW Beetle and his '79 MGB, to allow for a down payment (and room in the garage) for a new car, most likely a Mini Cooper S (the BMW, not the old one), and I've always admired it, so I am considering buying it.
I can't say that I've seen it driven at all in the year and a half that I've known her, but before that it was driven maybe once or twice a year to MG meets in our area. I told him I was definitely interested. My dad had an MGB when he was younger, it was the year before they switched to plastic bumpers (he sold it later for a Trimph Spitfire, which we had up until a year or so after I was born), and I inherited a bit of his appreciation for these cars.
Sometime in the next few weeks I will be actually giving it a thorough inspection, using the handy information from here and here that I found from this website, and then at that point I will decide if this is a car I will ask my girlfriend's father to hold for me (he would prefer to sell it sooner than later, but he knows I've always admired it and would take care of it, so he will hold it for me until next October when I will be ready to purchase it).
I currently have a 2000 Ford Focus hatchback, and generally reside in the FocalJet forums, but as of late I've been looking for a second, older car, because although I love my Focus and full understand the capabilities of the platform, I've been desiring a second, "funkier" car that will not only turn heads when I drive, but also allow me to really get my hands dirty and learn a lot about working on cars (can't get too into a car when it's your transportation to and from work!). I have a short list of cars that I have been considering buying and restoring (and modifying them to perform significantly beyond their stock levels of performance).
When I say modify beyond their stock levels of performance, that doesn't necessarily apply to all the candidates.
For example, high on my list is an old Datsun 510, into which I would put the Nissan SR20DET engine and basically overhall it to turn it into a little beast of a car, but I wouldn't go and hot rod a VW Thing, which I am also considering.
Which is why I am unsure about the MGB. I keep seeing references to this whole "Safety Fast" thing, and if I am really looking to turn whatever car I buy into quite a performer, I am still looking for info on people who have "souped up" their cars, so to speak.
A lot of information I've seen on here seems to refer specifically to the restoration and upkeep of original equipment, so I was wondering if this vehicle is just one of those vehicles that is simply good enough in it's stock form, or does it not lend well to modifications?
Before anyone comments on that, I can partly answer that myself- I really need to DRIVE the car to experience it and see if it is something I would like to get into... from what I gather, the driving experience you get is what brought about the "Safety Fast" thing, so perhaps just enjoying the car at it's stock performance levels will be good enough for me.
...but still, I tend to be an always-tinkering type of car enthusiast, wanting to see how I can fully exploit a vehicle for more performance. I just got my Moss Motors catalog yesterday, and immediately I went right to the performance parts, lol.
Somewhere on here or one of the sites I linked to, I read that if I do buy an MGB, I should wait and live with it a year before doing any extensive modifications. So, once I fully check over the example I am considering buying, if it IS something I like (after I actually DRIVE an MGB, of course), I will bring it up to speed as far as any work that needs to be done to it, but taking that advice, I won't be doing any serious suspension work, engine work, or bodywork (even though I SO want to convert it to a chrome bumper car!) until I truly see that this is a car I can live with.
In any event, I think I am rambling now and I apologize (slow day at work), but I hope to learn a lot from all of you in the next few months, both regarding the car itself, but also the philosophy behind maintaining and owning one of these. Not often do I see cars touting claims like "Safety Fast", so that was my first indication that I truly need to do my homework before buying a car like this
Thanks in advance for my experiences here!
Oh, and real quick, I'm not sure what kind of demographic tends to frequent these boards, but from what I've gathered it seems like there are a lot of brand loyalists here, which is fine, but I'm not too fond of "fanboys" who denounce other genres or marques just because they don't like them. For example, I am a big fan of certain imports, but please do not misunderstand me when I say I am NOT to be lumped in to the "Fast N Furious" demographic which unfortunately seems to be typecasting any young car enthusaist these days as being tasteless and stupid. Like most people, I like certain brands and types of cars more than others, but I can always see the good in every car.
...just had to get that out of the way, thanks
[ 04-07-2004: Message edited by: JaredZX3 ]</p>
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